By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
HODGDON, Maine — Hodgdon Town Manager Jim Griffin opened Monday night’s town meeting with a word of thanks to out-going board member Carleton Tidd, who has served the town for 12 years. He served as chairman 11 of those years. The total municipal budget is $568,614, which is an increase over last year’s budget. According to Griffin, the increase was due to general government (wages and insurances), roads and bridges (an increase in gravel road repairs) and winter roads.
Serving as moderator for the meeting was Brittany Benn.
Hodgdon residents were able to vote before the meeting for two selectmen for three-year seats. Elected was incumbent Sheila Murchie (28 votes) and Charles “Chuck” Rockwell for the other seat with 38 votes. John Gaddis received 25 votes.
Carleton Wallace was asked to be excused from the budget committee and Chuck Wallace was nominated and approved for the year. Other budget members are John Benn, William Dobbins, Tim O’Donnell, Vaughn Farrar, Bruce Folsom, James Hemingway, Emery Lincoln, Tammy Mulvey and Arthur Sloat.
There was little discussion on the warrant articles presented at the Hodgdon Town Meeting on Monday night at Mill Pond School. All articles passed as presented.
During the meeting, voters approved “To see what sum of money the Town will vote to raise and appropriate for Town Roads Resurfacing Reserve, and to see if the Town will vote to authorize the selectmen to expend funds from the Reserve Account as they deem necessary.”
According to Griffin, the next scheduled roads that will be resurfaced are the Jackins Settlement Road and the Skedgell Road. Currently they are scheduled to be resurfaced in 2014. A number of cross culverts will be replaced this summer and this allows a year for any settling before the asphalt is applied.
The last article presented was “To see if the Town will vote to increase the property tax levy limited established by state law for the town of Hodgdon in the event that the municipal budget approved under the previous warrant articles will result in a tax commitment that is greater than the current property tax levy limit.”
The recommended levy limit was $153,200. Through a secret ballot, the article passed 32-2.
LD 1 was passed in 2005 and requires towns to calculate a property tax levy limit each year based on local property growth and statewide average personal income growth, explained Griffin.
The town is responsible for calculating its property growth while the State Planning Office is responsible for the income growth. LD 1 restricts municipal property tax increases based on an annually calculated “growth factor.” Using that growth factor, a municipality establishes a “property tax levy limit” that limits the amount of property taxes that may be committed for the municipality budget, unless the municipality legislative body uses a special voting procedure to override the limit.
“Since I do not know the town’s actual growth factor nor the amount of property taxes that may be committed until all assessing has been completed, I don not know if the town will exceed the property tax levy limit.,” Griffin added. “Therefore the article is placed on the warrant for Town Meeting to cover the law.”
